Adjustable hemmer.



C. STAFFORD.

ADJUSTABLE HEMMER.

APPLlCATlON FILED JUNE 26, 1913 Patented Sept. 14, 1915.

WITNESSES. 4 1% w Q a m COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0..\vAsH|NGTON, D. c.

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ADJUSTABLE HEM-MER.

titled-A59.

Specification of Letters Patent. P tented Sept. l l4t, 1915.

Application filed June 26, 1913. Serial No. 775,346

To ail whom it may concern: Be it known that 1, CHARLES STAFFORD, citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Elizabeth, in the'county, of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Hemmers, of which the following is a specilication, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to an improvement 1 to permit longitudinal adjustment of the latter relatively to the edge'turning or curling members. The guide member serves to turn or fold the material, along a line distanced from its edge according to the width of hem desired, so that its under face will be superposed upon its upper face, and its edge guided to the curling members which curl or inturn said edge under the superposed p y, e a In hemmers of the present type the guide member in each case has a limited adjustment only, usually for a hem of one-inch maximum width; and when it is desired to form a hem of considerable width, as for example, a pillow case hem or the like, the folding operation is performed by other means, the guide member discarded, and the edge curling members alone are used. In such case it has been necessary to disengage the parts and to wholly remove the guide member, scale-pointerand set-screw, so that such parts will not obstruct the free movement of the material. during the edge curling operation of the attachment. Several disadvantages are present in such arrange ment first, the unskilled operator may improperly reassemble the parts; secondly, some of the parts are so small that loss is frequent; thirdly, the removal and replacement of the set-screw serves to break down the threads in the thin sheet metal support for theguide n iember, ren ering the latter useless; and fourtlily, the difli culty' annoyance of removing and reassembling the small parts is considerable. i In the present invention, when it is d esired to complete a hem of greater Width than that permitted by the guide member in active position, the latter may be moved longitudinally to one entrenie position and then swung upon its set-screw as la'nfaxis and out of the path of the nat erlial. When it is desired to use the guide member the movement is reversed, thereby placing it again into active position. w

In the dra ingSQFigure l is a top view offthe hemmer with as parts assembled, showing in dotted lines, 'the'guide member in inactiyepositionf Fig.2[is a perspective View of the same the guide member heing in active. position. Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the same and Figs 4 and 5 are detail intermediate portion 7bent over the inner edge of prong 3 and secu redt'o the upper face thereof by rivet a, which extends through said prong and the lower portion of thel'smoothing plate. Intermediate portion 7 the smoothing plate ro mded to.

provide a smoothing surface under which the fabric may slidewithout creating friction. 'The outer end of said sinoothingplate is bent upwardly and bent inwardly to form the spring curling finger 8, its extreme end being bent downwardly and upon itself to forni curling hooli 9, Theportion,7 of said smoothing plate, forming'lthe base for curling finger 8, is secured to prong 3 by means'of-rivet Z). i

The outer end of prong 4 is inturned toward the hooked end of curling finger 8, and is properly shaped to form an arbor or curling point 10, said curling point being disposed slightly in advance of said curling ric-engaging face, to coact with said hook in 7 its curling action upon the edge of the fabric, in'the usual manner.

Secured to the outer face of prong at is foot 11 of bracket 11, the remaining foot 11 of said bracket being formed with an aperture for the reception of set-screw l3, whichpasses through slot 15*, formed in guide member 15 and thence passes through prong 4, being headed below the lower face of the latter, in order to permit a limited movement only of said set-screw. The inner portion of guide 15 is formed with an upwardly extending spring-arm 16 which, at its end, is provided with a downwardly extending curved guide-lip 17 disposed adjacent guide-tongue 18 formed at the outer end of the slotted portion of the guide member, being a continuation of the depending outer edge .20 of the same. Bracket 11 pro vides a U-shaped channel adapted to receive spring arm 1'6 and to aid set-screw 13 in maintaining the guide member in its various adjusted positions. Said bracket is provided with a pointer 14 which cooperates with a graduating scale formed upon the upper face of spring-arm 16 to indicate the Various positions of adjustment of the guide member. '.It will be seen without further explanation that rotation of set-screw 13 in the proper direction will permit the guide member 15 to be moved longitudinally to vary the width of hem.

The attachment having been adjusted to form a hem of the desired width, the ma terial is inserted between guide-lip 17 and guide-finger 18 and is passed over the slotted portion of the guide and under spring,

arm 16, the extreme edge of the material to be hemmed passing over curling point 10 and into abutment with the hooked end 9 of curling finger 8. lVhen the presser-foot is lowered depending guide-lip 17 will act as a stop shoulder for the outer edge of the material and will serve to hold the same in proper alineinent. In the present instance the attachment is designed to completely fold material into hem formation of varying widths up to a maximum width of one- 'nch. WVhe'n, however, it is desired to form a hem of greater width it becomes necessary first to partially fold the material and secondly to remove guide member 15 out of the path of the material. To such end, slot 15 extends sufficiently to the rear of upwardly extending arm 16 to permit the latter to be drawn beyond foot 11" of bracket-pointer 11. As the inner end of guide member 15 is formed substantially as a quadrant, and as the outer portion of prong 4 adjacent the set-screw is rounded, the guide member may now be swung to the left upon said set-screw 13 and thus be moved to inactive position out of the path of the material. The material may now be folded for any width of hem, and its edge is then placed in position to be engaged by curling hook 9 and curling point 10 in the usual manner.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is 1. In a hemming attachment for sewing machines, a foot, edge curling members carried by said foot and including a curling hook and an arbor-embraced thereby, a longitudinally adjustable guide-member provided with an arm, and retaining means secured to said foot and engaging said arm to confine the guide-member against lateral movement, the said retaining means being inefi'ective at a given point of adjustment of the guide-member.

2. In a hemming attachment for sewing machines, a foot, edge-curling members carried by said foot and including a curling hook and an arbor embraced thereby, a longitudinally adjustable guide-member provided with a spring-arm, a bracket adapted to confine said arm against lateral movement and provided with a clamping foot, a set screw adapted to press said clamping foot upon the guide-member, and means whereby said guide-member may be swung laterally upon said set screw as an axis at a given point of adjustment.

3. In a hemming attachment for sewing machines, a foot, and an arbor carried thereby, a smoothing plate embracing said foot and formed with a curling finger turned at its free end to provide a curling hook to coact with said arbor. an adjustable guide-member connected to said foot, and means for confining said guide-member against lateral movement, said means being ineffective at a given point of adjustment of said guide-member.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES STAFFORD.

Witnesses: W. LEE HnLMs, H. A. KORNEMANN, Jr.

copiesof this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C." 

